Fallen Angel
by Midnight's Trinity
Summary: FORMERLY DREAMINGOFANI--It is Leia's (and Luke's) third birthday. Vader has a realization and tries to find Padme...
1. Default Chapter

Prologue

by dreamingofani

**I just wanna get out, stuck inside of this. Waiting for something else, waiting to exist.**

A tall, cloaked figure was running down the busy streets of Coruscant. He wore entirely black—black boots, pants, and a long, sweeping hooded cloak. He ran desperately. Several people stopped and looked to see who was chasing him. But no one was. The figure turned a corner and stopped, panting for breath. He slumped against a wall and pulled back his hood to reveal a man's intent face, a head of spiky black hair, and a pair of bright blue eyes. His eyes seemed to be the only thing that stood out against the black of his robes and the shadows on his face. They looked desperate. Pleading.

There he sat, on the corner of the street, seemingly pondering his next move. 

_Where could she be?_ he wondered, not for the first time.

His master had ordered him to kill her. He must find her.

A/N: The lyrics are from_ Do You Like It_ by Our Lady Peace.


	2. Part One

Part One

by dreamingofani

He knew now. Somehow, he just knew.

He landed his ship expertly, mind-tricking a few landing personnel along the way.

_They can't know that I'm here..._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Padmé Amidala Skywalker sat at a small, scrubbed table in the kitchen of her little apartment. Obi-Wan Kenobi sat across from her, and a small girl with bouncy brown curls sat in her lap. Three cups and a pitcher of juice were laid out before them, as well as a small, frosted cake. Kenobi poured the orange-colored juice into the cups, and Padmé wrapped her arms even tighter around the girl.

"Happy birthday, my big three-year-old," she said, and the girl giggled happily and took the cup of juice that was handed to her. Kenobi smiled at Padmé.

Padmé pulled the cake towards her and lit the three candles. "Okay, Leia...make a wish," she said dramatically.

Leia thought for a moment. This wish was very special; she couldn't waste it. 

_I wish that someday, I will be just like my mommy._

She blew out the candles in one breath. Padmé and Kenobi clapped.

"Would you care to cut the cake, Master Kenobi?" Padmé suggested. 

He did, and the two friends and the no-longer-a-baby feasted upon the sweet treat.

After they had finished, Padmé handed Leia a neatly wrapped gift. She ripped the paper away to reveal a beautiful doll. It had curly brown hair and deep brown eyes, just like her and her mommy. She smiled and gave Padmé a hug.

"I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, sweetie. Go find Sabé...maybe she'll want to play with you," Padmé said.

Leia slid off her lap and ran off to find her playmate.

Kenobi smiled at Padmé again. "She is looking more like you every day."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan."

**There's nothing you can say, there's nothing you can do. There's nothing in between. You know the truth. Nothing left to face. Nothing left to lose. Nothing takes your place..... There's nothing left to prove. There's nothing I won't do. There's nothing like the pain I feel for you. Nothing left to hide. Nothing left to fear. I'm always here.**

There was an awkward silence.

finally, she spoke.

"How...how is Luke? It is his birthday, too," she asked, trembling.

"I just saw him last week...he is doing very well," he said carefully.

"What does he look like now? What is he like? I mean, I haven't seen him since..." 

She shuddered.

"Well," he started. "He is short and kind of chubby..."

Padmé chuckled. 

"He has sandy blond hair and the same bright blue eyes that..." He paused for a moment and took a breath. He could feel her heart break a little more, if that was possible. He felt so bad for her. She had been through so much excruciating pain already, and he didn't want to make it any worse for her.

"Please continue...please. I need to know," she said, her voice little more than a tortured whisper.

He looked into her pleading brown eyes. "All right. He is curious and a little mischievous... kind of rebellious, for a toddler, at least. But he is kind, generous, and selfless. He kind of reminds me of someone I used to know..."

She looked up and forced a little smile. The look in her eyes was one of sweet sadness.

"But I suppose that you can't tell me where he is?" she asked hopefully.

"You suppose correctly, Milady."

"Thank you, Obi-Wan. For everything." She stood and pulled him in to a hug, much to his surprise. They clung to each other tightly for a long time. Padmé, by no means, wanted any kind of romantic involvement with him—no one could replace her Ani, ever. She would never even try. But each of them mourned Anakin's loss, and they'd each been so hopelessly lonely ever since he'd left. She sobbed gently in to his shoulder.

Suddenly, they heard the crash of breaking glass, and they leapt apart. Kenobi had ignited his lightsaber before the bounty hunter could even begin firing.

"GET DOWN!" he screamed to Padmé.

Sabé heard the blaster shots from the other room. She jumped off the floor, reaching for the blaster at her side.

"Leia, promise me that you'll stay here! Hide in the closet, okay sweetie? Promise you won't come out," Sabé said urgently.

Leia, scared out of her wits, nodded and obeyed. Sabé sprinted out of the room. Leia remained curled up in the dark closet, desperately clutching her new dolly.

Sabé ran in to see Kenobi blocking the fire of two mysterious bounty hunters. She ran to his side and began firing at the attackers.

"Get behind me!" Kenobi yelled.

"No!" she yelled back, stubborn to the end.

All of a sudden, a blast struck Sabé in the side. She fell to the floor and Padmé rushed to her side.

"Sabé!" she cried desperately. _No...not again... _"Sabé..." she barely whispered.

"Goodbye, milady."

And she breathed her last breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Darth Vader rushed down the street and towards an apartment building. He couldn't believe what he was doing. He couldn't believe what he had done.

Palpatine wanted him to kill her. He wouldn't. He couldn't. So he fled, all those hours ago on Coruscant. Why had he left her in the first place? He hated being a puppet for Palpatine. He hated himself for everything he'd ever done. He wondered how she could ever forgive him.

But as he came closer, he thought about the beautiful life they could live if she did. He thought of her playfully teasing him while his golden hair grew back under the dyed black. He thought of holding her, of kissing her, of someday having his own family.

He came to her door, and he knew immediately that something was wrong. He threw open the door and sprinted in. He saw Kenobi fighting away two masked bounty hunters. He saw Sabé lying dead on the floor. But at the exact instant that he stormed in, every second slowed and he saw one single blast hit Padmé in the chest. She seized violently, and her body rushed to meet the floor.

A/N: Those lyrics are from _Not Enough_ by Our Lady Peace.


	3. Part Two

Part Two

by dreamingofani

Vader ran to her. He fell to his knees and scooped her up in his arms.

"Oh, Padmé..." he breathed, pressing her body close to him.

"Anakin?" she asked in disbelief.

He just nodded. He couldn't speak. He could feel her blood on his hands. He stared into her eyes desperately, tears filling his own. In all the years he had known her, Padmé had always been the strong one. He had never seen her give up. Never. But at this moment, he clearly saw a look of defeat in her eyes. It broke a heart that Vader had thought he no longer had. 

"I'm sorry, Anakin..." she whispered. She still believed she'd failed him... somehow, she had.

As though reading her thoughts, he pulled her in closer. "No Padmé," he choked. "It wasn't your fault." He bit his lip in silent pain.

"Well, at least I was right about you, Ani. I knew you were in there somewhere..." She smiled a weak smile.

"Oh angel...I have always loved you..." he said through his tears.

"I love you too...Anakin?"

"Yes?" he whispered desperately.

"I have something to tell you, Ani..."

"I'm listening, Padmé..."

"You're a daddy, Ani..." she breathed.

"A...a daddy?" he asked incredulously.

She merely nodded, smiling a little.

"Goodbye, Ani..." she whispered.

"No, Padmé, you can make it.... no...don't leave me..."

"Goodbye..." she said again. A memory arose from the back of her mind and flashed before her eyes.

_You must be an angel! You just don't know it..._

She had one last thought:

_What if I really am?_

And her chocolate brown eyes slid shut for all eternity.

He sat there, unmoving.

_No...she can't be gone..._

His tear-filled eyes looked up over Padmé's still body.

**I wasn't there for you...I wasn't there. But I wasn't there for you. You are gone. I wasn't there.**

The anger began to take hold. 

"Kenobi..." he growled, igniting his lightsaber over his head.

**I want, oh want to take his eyes out just for looking at you. Yes I do. And I want, oh want to take his hands off just for touching you. Yes I do. And I want, oh want to rip his heart out just for hurting you. And I want to break his spine now. Yes I do.**

He sprang at the man in a fit of blind rage, attacking him with all his might.

Thrust, parry, slash.

"Kenobi! Why couldn't you save her?" he yelled.

"Anakin..."

"Vader!"

**Back off! I'll take you on. Headstrong to take on anyone. I know that you are wrong. Headstrong, oh headstrong.**

"Anakin, there was nothing that either of us could have done. She's gone," he said sadly.

"You're wrong!" he yelled back. "This was your fault."

Stab, parry, parry.

"And you were always holding me back!" he continued. "Keeping me from discovering my true potential." He was fuming.

"That's not true, Anakin," he said calmly, parrying another attack.

"Yes it is."

The fight was intense, but neither one of them could touch the other, as well as they knew each other's fighting style.

"Anakin, stop. I don't want to hurt you."

"No. I've been waiting to do this since I was ten years old."

Vader's face was illuminated by the red and blue of the lightsabers clicking above his head.

Blue versus red.

Light versus dark.

Jedi versus Sith.

Master versus Padawan.

"Why didn't you tell me about the child?" he started again.

He knew he couldn't get out of this one. Kenobi was about to speak, but a thought crossed his mind.

_He thinks there's only one..._

"His name is Luke."

"Where is he?" Anakin said in a chilling voice.

"I can't tell you that."

"Tell me! Tell me now!"

"No."

They kept fighting, and Vader continued his ranting and raving. But in his blind fury, he couldn't sense some very important things.

That his daughter was hiding in a closet.

That Bail Organa was sneaking in to rescue her.

That he was backing in to a window.

There was a crash of breaking glass, and Vader fell out the window. He managed to grab hold of a passing speeder, but the boosters ignited, severly burning his entire body. He lost his grip and fell, finally landing on the pavement below him.

Obi-Wan stared down at the unconscious form. He could feel his presence in the Force, as weak as it was, and he knew that the man was still alive. But Anakin...

Anakin had died with Padmé.

A/N: The first lyrics are from _Streamline_ by System of a Down. The second lyrics are from _Insert Title here_ by Nickelback. The third are from _Headstrong_ by Trapt.

Okay, that concludes my reign here in fanfiction kingdom. : ( 

If you want more, check out my originals.


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